"You're very fond of Robin," observed Tony. There was a note of envy in his voice. "Of course I am. If we could only afford to live together, I think I should be absolutely happy." He glanced at her quickly. "Aren't you happy with Lady Susan?" "Oh, yes, yes! No one could be kinder to me than she is. But--I miss Robin"--rather wistfully. "You see, we've always been everything to each other." "I see. And what will happen if one day you--or Robin--should get married?" Ann skirted the topic dexterously. "Oh, don't let's think about possible calamities on a day like this. Look!" She touched his arm, drawing his attention to a girl who had also climbed the Roche d'Or hill to see the view and had halted near them, a sheaf of freshly-gathered wild-flowers in her hand. "Aren't those blue gentians lovely?" Tony glanced at the few vividly blue flowers the girl was jealously clasping. She had walked far in search of them and valued them accordingly. "Do you want some?" he asked eagerly. Ann nodded. "Isn't it getting rather late in the year to find them, though?" she said doubtfully. The girl with the flowers, overhearing, turned to her with a friendly smile. "There are very few left," she vouchsafed. "I've been hunting everywhere for them. But you may find one or two over there." She pointed to a distant slope. Tony's eyes followed her gesture. Then he glanced down at Ann inquiringly. "Are you game for so long a walk?" he asked. "I'm game for anything up in this air," she assured him with conviction. But, as was not infrequently the case, Ann's spirit outstripped her physical strength. The slope indicated was much farther away than it appeared and "the going was bad," as Tony phrased it. Blue gentians proved tantalisingly elusive, and at length, rather disheartened by their unprofitable search, Ann came to a standstill. "I think I'm beginning to feel a keener interest in tea than gentians, Tony," she confessed at last, ruefully. "It's very contemptible of me, I own. But when I contemplate the distance we've already got to cover before we reach the hotel again, I feel distinctly disinclined to add to it." "I've let you walk too far!" Tony was overwhelmed with compunction. "Look here, sit down in this little hollow and rest for a few minutes before we turn back, while I just go a bit further and see if I can find you a gentian." He stripped off his overcoat as he spoke and rolled it together to make a cushion for her. "No, no, I don't want your coat," she protested. "I don't need it--really!" But Tony was suddenly masterful. "You'll do as you're told," he asserted. And somewhat to her own surprise she found herself meekly obeying him.